Gerlach wins fifth term in 6th district

By Mary E. Young

Reading Eagle

The Republican incumbent emerged on top of one of the most hard-fought campaigns this election season.

According to complete and unofficial results, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, 55, of West Pikeland Township, Chester County, garnered 131,715 votes to continue representing the 6th Congressional District for a fifth two-year term.

Health care became one of the key issues in the race for Gerlach, who opposed the legislation called Obamacare by foes, and Trivedi, an internal medicine physician who is a former health policy adviser to the Obama campaign.

Trivedi could not be reached for comment.

Gerlach said now that the Republicans have the majority in the House of Representatives, they can begin making the changes that the voters want.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "The American people have spoken. Clearly, they want a change from President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"They want a Congress that's going to focus on creating jobs, lowering taxes and reining in government spending."

During the campaign, Trivedi toured businesses, shook hands with people eating in diners and met with senior citizens.

Among his favorite topics were creating a better environment for businesses and maintaining the Social Security system in its present form.

Gerlach talked about his plan to help small businesses, which he credited with creating most of the jobs in the country.

Gerlach is a former member of the state House of Representatives and the state Senate, and a former private practice attorney.

The district is made up of part of Berks, Montgomery, Chester and Lehigh counties.